Revision as of 19:37, 26 December 2016

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On 27-29 November 1936 representatives from seven organized congregations of General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM) affinity (Greendale, Vancouver, West Abbotsford, Coghlan, Black Creek, Agassiz, and Yarrow) met in the First Mennonite Church of Sardis (later known as First Mennonite Church Greendale) to establish the Konferenz der Vereinigten Mennonitengemeinden in Britisch Columbien (Conference of United Mennonite Churches of British Columbia). The conference's stated threefold purpose was to be a united force in the cause of Christ, to serve as guardian of the faith in the Anabaptist tradition, and to be a beacon to attract and draw together the many lost and straying members of the family of faith. The provincial conference was incorporated on 22 July 1940 with the following congregations officially listed as members: Oliver, Black Creek, West Abbotsford, Mission, Coghlan, Yarrow, Sardis (Greendale), and Vancouver, with a total membership of 405.

The following have been or still are major programs and institutions of the conference. Mary Martha Girls' Home, for women working in the city of Vancouver, was established in 1935. A Bible school, started in the Coghlan area of what is now known as Aldergrove in 1939, later moved to Abbotsford as Bethel Bible Institute and amalgamated with the Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute to become Columbia Bible Institute in 1970 (Columbia Bible College since 1985). Menno High School operated at Sardis, 1947-1951. Camp Squeah, nestled in the coastal mountains, has served the churches as a year-round retreat center. The conference has emphasized Sunday School teacher training throughout the years. Mission endeavors have included church planting and cross-cultural ministries with Hispanic, South-East Asian, and Indo-Canadian ethnic groups. Peace and justice issues and care for underprivileged people have largely been relegated to Mennonite Central Committee (B.C.) of which the conference continues to be an integral part. The youth organization, Women in Mission, and the Ministers and Deacons conference have played a vital role in the life of the Conference. In 1976 the conference opened an office in Clearbrook (now Abbotsford) with a full-time conference coordinator, later referred to as the conference minister. At the February 1977 annual conference sessions, a new constitution and by-laws were accepted, replacing the 1940 constitution and by-laws, and the name of the conference was changed to Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia.

The conference continued to maintain close ties with the Conference of Mennonites in Canada, which it had joined in 1937, and the General Conference Mennonite Church of North America until the transformation of the General Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Church into Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. At that time the conference's denominational ties transferred to the new Mennonite Church Canada. In 2001 the Conference of Mennonites in British Columbia changed its name to Mennonite Church British Columbia as a symbol of the new Mennonite Church denominational structure in Canada, and its relationship to the new Mennonite Church Canada.

On 27 May 2007 a renewal covenant was signed by 30 of the 34 member congregations. The covenant dealt with the local congregations’ mutual relationship within MCBC and covered six areas of commitment to: essential doctrine and practice; meaningful worship and fellowship; shared ministries; discernment; mutual accountability; and service. Of the four congregations that did not sign, two signed later in 2008, while another two, First Mennonite Church Greendale (Chilliwack) and Olivet Church (Abbotsford) voted to leave the conference in the fall of 2007.

In the fall of 2011 the conference had 32 congregations with a total membership of 3,537.